The present inention relates to a circular knitting machine, or particularly to its product drawing off and winding device with a rotatable needle cylinder, with a supporting plate which is provided for the product drawing off device and the product winding device and rotates synchronously with the needle cylinder, with a displaceable bearing part for bringing a finished product roll and provided for supporting a roll bar, with a roll bar magazine for supplying the roll bars to the bearing part, with a cutting device having a rotatable cutter and displaceable parallel to a product drawing off roller, and with a control device for an automatic performance of a roll formation and a roll bar exchange.
Arrangements of the above mentioned general type are known in the art. One of such arrangements is disclosed, for example, in the German document DE-OS 2,005,141. The known product drawing off and winding devices for circular knitting machines have several disadvantages which include, first of all, a complicated construction of the device and as a result of this special structural features which have to be taken care on installation places of the circular knitting machine for withdrawing a completed product roll from the machine. Problematic is also with this machine the secure engagement of the initial portion of the knitting hose in the winding device by a newly introduced roll bar.
For this reason the product drawing off and winding devices cannot be provided with an automatic roll bar exchange.